Tuesday, March 17, 2009

faith and begorrah

A little note to mark the day...

St Patrick's Day is a strange holiday, celebrated in a drunken marathon binge by green clad college students (and those 21 at heart) with dyed green beer and carnival beads. At 7:45 this morning, on my way to work, I drove past some of these people, already bar-hopping and looking a bit jovial with drink. One had on shockingly green corduroy pants and a spangly top hat. But can anyone tell me, why the carnival beads? Anyone?

I celebrated this evening with a Reuben, a Guinness and a bowl of Potage Parmentier (potato leek soup). Comfort food, made by my mom, who is only just recovering from food poisoning and has very little appetite but has an ingrained need to feed those who are around at dinner time and an iron will that believes, just a little, that if she tries really hard, she won't be sick anymore. I don't take after her at all. Riiiight.

I love her all the more for this, and I love her cooking. I also love this house, and love the fact that I can pack up my baby and my kitten and deposit myself and my menagerie on their doorstep after work to stay the night because my husband is away on business and my nearly 100 year old house feels lonely and sad without him. My parents are the epitome of hospitable, and even though my room was actually demolished to make a sitting/dressing room off their master bedroom (punched through the wall and put in french doors and everything), it's still home to me, too. My sister even stopped by after bar hopping, as my plans altered and I couldn't meet her out, and we watched Will Ferrel's HBO special on George W Bush.

I'm writing this with my kitten curled in my lap, listening to my daughter snore in her pack and play. Life is good. Faith and begorrah, indeed. Happy St Patrick's Day, everyone.

10 comments:

  1. Re: The carnival beads... Spillover from Mardi Gras? An excuse for Girls to Go Wild...?

    The reuben sounds more traditional than what I had... But i DID find a Guinness or three.

    How was Will Ferrell?

    a

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  2. Will Ferrell as W was great! He looked like W, he spoke like W, and he had the mannerisms down pat. It rivals Fay Faye's Palin.
    Maybe you had better assure people your mother's food poisoning was nothing you (or she)cooked!

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  3. Fay Faye...? Is that like John Evans?

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  4. Absolutely! The food poisoning was the result of store bought seafood salad, as far as we're aware. Mom would never make something poison!

    And the Will Ferrell thing was really funny... edgy, too. Much more so than when he's done that character on SNL.

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  5. Did you guys Tivo it? Or will it be on again?

    And it's mildly absurd btw that I'm commenting on your comments from roughly... oh, 10 feet away. No?

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  6. I was wondering, incidentally, why it's called 'Potage Parmentier'...

    Not what I was expecting! Far more interesting, in fact.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine-Augustin_Parmentier

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  7. I do like that we're sitting on opposite sides of the livingroom and doing this, yes. So without even going to your link, I will tell you what mom told me, which is that it was named after M. Parmentier, who introduced potatoes to France.

    and the Will Ferrell thing was on HBO on demand, btw, and we should totally check it out soon

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  8. Just checked out the link... I recommend to all! Very interesting! Thanks, darling

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  9. Well, you already knew what I had to offer, then... ;-)

    But, I don't know, I tend to assume with French dishes that they're named after some town or another. Or some region or another. Like Boeuf Bourgignionne (sp?) or something-or-other Provencale or Nicoise or what have you. I don't tend to assume that Brie is, say, named for Mr. Brie. You get me...?

    And we'll have to see the W thing, I'd like that. Over the weekend maybe?

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  10. I like the thought of M. Brie or M. Cornichon.

    and as for the W thing? It's a date, baby.

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